How to tell if IMS bearing replaced?
 

I am looking to purchase a 2000 Boxster with 110k miles. The seller just acquired the car from the original owner and is perhaps just trying to flip the car. He does not know if the IMS bearing has been replaced. Is there any way to know if it has? He does not have any maintenance records. The car has a stage 3 clutch so I feel like IMS may have been replaced along with the clutch. No way to know for sure. There are no LN engineering stickers under the trunk or front trunk lid. That is the only way I know to check if the IMS upgrade was done. The carfax service history doesn't mention IMS bearing replacement, but does show a lot of other maintenance was done indicating the car was well taken care of by the original owner.

Is there any other way of knowing if the IMS has been replaced?

Thanks in advance

Sure, no problem
Drop the transmission
Easy

I would be wary with that sales history. Get a PPI done including checking the oil filter. If the oil was just changed, there could be something being hidden.

I buy / sell cars for a hobby and I generally change the oil before I sell them. I don't want a prospective customer pulling the dip stick to see coal tar. That says to me the owner doesn't care.

2 sides to every coin.

The answer to the OP's question is no, there is no easy way to know. Not sure if Jake keeps a registry of VINs or not, but I doubt it as that would get complicated. Your best bet is to bargain the price down assuming it needs replacement.

If you haven't done it, check inside the door for the LN sticker. That is where my sticker is. And I know a few other members have their sticker there also.

A 15 year old car, well taken care of by the original owner....and now someone has come along to 'flip' this car? That doesn't make sense to me - especially that part about no service records?
Logic tells me that most people who want to flip and make some money buy a car in less than stellar condition, fix it up and then sell it at a profit. Tough to do on a depreciating asset, but can be done.
I question how well taken care of it was originally for someone to come in, scoop it up at a low enough cost to be able to turn it around and sell it.
My worry would be the second owner bought it and discovered something very bad and is now trying to get out from under.
Get a PPI!

IMO these cases are excellent for first time P car buyers. If things check out (do your homework), buying from a flipper normally comes with a lot of negotiation room (they normally know nothing about the car). If you can hold you own checking out the car etc (short of seeing the IMS) then you can get away with a steal.

E.g. before my car was my car, it was in a minor front end collision. Cracked the headlights - you can guess it was totaled. Owner sold it to a flipper, he got new headlights, new bumper etc. and flipped it as salvage. A PCA car its whole life in my driveway with new headlights. Sure you pay the middlemans profit margin but its normally a whole lot cheaper than the PCA owners price!

That was the point I was trying to make in post #2
You elaborated nicely
Another question is why it has a stage 3 clutch, if it even actually does. That is not normal for a non track car.

As far as the IMS, my concern is that the flipper found metal in the oil filter, a sign of IMS failure and is getting rid of it fast.

What is the asking price? other details on the car?

Strange that the Carfax shows lots of service but there are no paper records. Where was the service done? You may want to check with whoever was servicing the car about the car.

When I bought mine, the CarFax was 3 pages of service from a local Porsche dealer. i spoke with them about the car and found out they saw no problems with it and had serviced the car about a month before I bought it. Same with teh 996 Targa I bought, called the indy (which is one of the top indy's in So Cal) that had been working on the car for the last 3.5 years. They knew the car and told me it was one of teh best 996's they had ever seen

I get the feeling it was tracked because it also has a Borla exhaust. This might mean the seller bought it for track use and maybe it is not a flip as I previously thought. The reason I guessed it was a flip because he has had it for only a month or two.

Asking price is $5500, and it has 110k miles. It needs work on the convertible top and the seats have a lot of wear.

This will be my second 986 so I do have a little bit of experience and knowledge about what to look for. I don't mind buying a fixer upper and doing some work on it myself. But I want to make sure it doesn't need major powertrain work.

Keep in mind other things besides just the engine will need attention also. Without service records you can only assume that the suspension is original. My 2002 also has 110,000 miles and the suspension was shot completely, I can't do any of the work myself so I have an Indy mechanic doing the work and the final bill is going to be almost 4,000.00. So get a full PPI and if you can live with some worn parts 5500 doesn't seem that bad at all.

That sounds like a great price to me. I would check to see if it has any oil leaks underneath if you haven't already. I just bought a 1 owner 99 with 111,000 on it from a dealer, and it needs a little work. I paid more than that and I thought I got a pretty good deal, but time will tell. Good luck with it if you buy it.